This invention relates to improvements in an installation structure for an electric rotating machine such as an electric motor provided to a wheel of a motor vehicle such as an electric vehicle.
Hitherto, an installation structure for an electric motor or the like to be disposed inside a wheel of a motor vehicle such as an electric vehicle has been proposed in Japanese Patent Provisional Publication No. 2001-32888, and arranged as follows: The electric motor is encased in a housing so as to constitute a drive unit. The vehicle body-side section of the housing is suspended through a suspension to a vehicle body. The wheel-side section of the housing is rotatably mounted on a wheel hub through a bearing in such a manner that a power output shaft (power transmission shaft) of the electric motor is fixed to a wheel hub which is fixed to a rim section of the wheel.